But then I got older, and I thought a lot more about what it means to truly be a leader. It doesn’t mean that you have people following your every move, or that you speak in front of big groups of people, or that you make epic speeches like in the movies. It is a solidarity with oneself, a resolve to do what makes your heart sing, and the confidence to move forward without following someone’s footsteps.

We are all leaders and we are all followers. What matters most is not whether you are predominantly one or the other, but if you are leading yourself. The rest will follow.

How often, in your own life, do you choose the road less traveled? How often do you give yourself permission to go where no one has gone before, or to do something out of your comfort zone. It is easier to follow because it is safe. We find security in knowing that someone else has been through what we will go through. Yet someone had to be first. Everything starts with something. Don’t live your life with someone else’s decisions.

Take hold of what is dear to you. Lead yourself through the unknown and trust in your instincts. Know that you have the power to pull yourself up should you fall, the ingenuity to break new ground, and the love of self to know it is worth it. The greatest things in this world are achieved through personal exploration. Do what you love because you love it. Don’t search the internet for an instruction manual. If you should fall, you will get back up. Falling is not failing, it is a lesson learned on the way to success.

Move bravely on your journey, and you may soon find others following in your footsteps.

Oh, and you might also reference your awesome 90’s childhood and shrink yourself to lay on the peach for a photo while trying to teach someone the basics of food photography.

Or you might not. But here is the story of my week, and how it turned into the best sequence of events I could have hoped for.

2. I was exploring a cave in the forest when my husband said he saw a spine. A spine? I was intrigued. So we went and found it and picked it up. We threw it in our car and drove it home, and then promptly forgot about it after that 3 hour drive. And then, the next day when we remembered, we opened our car to find a big surprise. MAGGOTS. EVERYWHERE. And so I had to clean the car thoroughly, trying not to kill the maggots while also trying not to choke myself from laughing so much. I threw the spine in my yard, along with my vacuum cleaner, and went inside. The next day a neighbor showed up to ask if I was aware that something strange was residing in my front yard. I did my best to explain the situation, but her disgusted look and slow backing away from my house showed me she was very uninterested in my necromancy, and so I said goodbye. The spine still resides in my front yard, awaiting a good cleaning. It was made to be a star.

3. The next day I was on a walk next to my favorite part of my favorite creek, getting ready to shoot something I had been excited about for a week, when all of a sudden I noticed that I couldn’t see much through my camera. When I took the lens off, a piece of the inside had fallen apart, and my camera was unusable.

4. The day after that we found out that we have a cap on our internet and we had just used it all and got a fine. I type this to you from the beautiful Starbucks in town.

When something doesn’t go your way, you should see it as a challenge to be the person you want to be. React the way your best self would react. You will not be your best self overnight; it takes work and determination.

What went wrong for you this week, and how can you see the good side?

I found inspiration in wanting to re-create the image I saved over in Photoshop. A mistake for sure, and one that could cost my business, but an even greater challenge to do something better or more fulfilling the second time around.

I found humor in the spine story, and can’t stop giggling to myself whenever I think of it. It was like a reality show unfolding. Good stuff!

I found a slower pace for my photography when I realized my camera had broken. It gave me time to think more, shoot less, and put more intent into my images that I have planned for this coming week.

Having no internet has been wonderful, allowing me to take a day of rest for myself as I nosh on some fruit I photographed and watch Stargate SG1.

Each time life hands you a peach instead of a lemon, think of all the potential you would miss if you simply mourned the lemon. Life is too sweet to only taste the bitter.